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In the feudal society and semi-colonial and semi-feudal society of China, the long-standing diversified monetary system and the mixed circulation of various currencies led to currency exchange during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The exchange business began in the Western Han Dynasty and developed in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and was operated by gold and silver shops and counters. In the Yuan Dynasty and the early Ming Dynasty, the government wanted to specialize in making paper money, but the people still used silver ingots and copper coins. Silver, money and paper money go hand in hand, and many public and private institutions and companies are also engaged in exchange business.

During the Ming Yingzong Orthodox period (1436- 1449), Daming paper money depreciated, the government relaxed the ban on the use of silver coins, and the currency was circulated openly. In the following generations, due to the complexity of private money, copper coins were different in weight and fineness, and the prices of reserve money, private money and white money were quite different and varied, and the exchange industry was more developed. For example, when Jiajing opened the casting furnace, there were many kinds of coins, such as gold-backed ones, spiral-edged ones and so on. In this case, there are many copper coins sold and privately cast and melted, and there are also a number of financial institutions specializing in copper coin exchange, called money houses, money houses, money exchange shops, money houses, money tables or money stalls. In the eighth year of Jiajing (1529), the phenomenon of selling copper coins privately was rampant, and the court ordered the sale of copper coins to be banned. As a result, banks and money houses engaged in currency exchange business "closed the money market privately, leading to soaring prices". In the fifth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1577), Pang approved the establishment of a bank, which was the beginning of the legalization of the bank. Wealthy families in towns are appointed to their posts, and they use their funds to buy funds from the government to promote transactions.

From money houses to money houses, many money houses did not simply change money at first, but often went to other industries. For example, the originator of Shanghai Qianzhuang is "a native of Shaoxing, Zhejiang". It is said that "during the Qianlong period, a charcoal stack was opened in the old town of Heather, and it also engaged in coin exchange business"; Fang Qi, the originator of Ningbo's money industry, was originally a shoemaker. For example, banks in Nanjing and Jiujiang have "lottery players"; Leping has a "cloth shop operator"; In Nanchang, Shanghai and other places, some money houses are also called "Qianmipu" because they are also engaged in rice industry.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Qianzhuang became an independent financial institution, which not only conducted exchange transactions, but also borrowed money, providing convenience for posting and withdrawing money. It turns out that the conference tickets exchanged between the two places have also become a credit circulation tool for banks to issue paper money. In addition, some small-scale money exchange shops and rice shops are quite active in rural areas. With the development and increase of the number of money houses, the organizations of money houses' guilds appeared all over the Qing Dynasty.